Yosemite practice route recommendations

Eric Craig wrote:

Re Mudflats: That’s amazing news. Not that I believe it couldn’t be free climbed. I am unaware of the route being included in any guidebook of the past 40 or more years. I had a look at it each of the past 2 springs, and there is no indication it gets done. Same each time I looked at it while walking by in the 80’s or 90’s. A long forgotten route as far as I can tell. Clint, do you know anyone who has done it in the last few decades? maybe it is a mistake my suggesting it? IDK

Part of the reason I have brought up the 2 routes Clint mentioned is I am not in favor of making even clean aid ascents of free climbs that see regular traffic. “Dynamo Hum” doesn’t seem to be in that category. Church Bowl Tree is. La Escuela left is probably somewhere in between.

As for Rixon’s S face Direct, it is positioned such that its rockfall hazard is lower than nearby routes. Less risk than even the West face Route. Is it safe enough, I can’t say for sure. And that would be compared to what? The South face direct isn’t particularly short, although you can always stop short of the top.

Maybe a good alternative is Beverly’s Tower or Waverly Wafer to Butterballs to Butterfingers? Just wait until the TRS ropes are up before aiding that line though. I mean, what’s the difference?

Mudflats is in the mid 90's edition of the Reid guide, pg 152.   5.11d R FFA Roger Greatrick and Carl Jonasson 4/84

While we're talking about not nailing on free routes, I hope I don't have to say that Dynamo Hum is a fantastic free climb and should never be approached with a hammer.  It's strangely obscure for an easily approached, really nice little crack.

Rixons' polpularity waxes and wanes with rockfall: we were tentatively climbing on it during my time (90s), and many popular climbs to the right (Good Book, Wild Things, Preface, Childhood's End, etc) became less popular after a massive rockfall.  I'd be leery of spending the night on a portaledge anywhere below Michael's Ledge unless I was sure the area had been good and stable for a few years.  Which maybe it has--haven't been back there in a while. 

Thanks Ben.
I also read through the ST thread posted by Rob. And Looked at some tick lists here.
It appears that Bear Rock suffered from one of those major rockfalls as well, and it is out away from the wall in the forest.

The initial significant rockfall in the 80’s came from above and west of Rixon’s. I have done the west face both before and after that rockfall (70’s, 80’s, &90’s), and while that route collected dust-grit-small rocks on ledges, the climbing was unchanged. The Direct S face appeared unaffected. IIRC we used to rap the old S face route to get down. But then, we also used to get down the El Cap east ledges with a single rap on a doubled 150 foot rope too.

OK, all my suggestions are bad. Except maybe Beverly’s/Butterballs/Butterfingers? That would be an awesome C1 beginner multipitch, eh? Short approach. Convenient!!

Re Dynamo Hum: 

I used it often for teaching aid climbing seminars while at YMS in the 80’s and 90’s. Alway’s hammerless. You are right about it. I don’t think the other nearby fine one pitch 5.9/10a routes see much traffic either.

I did some more research, looking at MP ticks.  
Of course there are none for Mud Flats.
None for Bear Rock. Ask AI and it tells you there is no such thing as Bear Rock in Yosemite.
Church Bowl Tree has a lot of ticks. Fairly even split between aid and free attempts, in the first hundred or so ticks.
Dynamo Hum has 4 ticks. Mostly for aid practice.
La Escuela has plenty of ticks. While decades ago it was a somewhat popular free climb, most ticks are for aid climbing practice. It apparently sees very few actual free ascents. It is a better education for today’s budding aid climber than Mudflats, so I (and anyone else) can just forget about that.

I will personally check out Bear Rock and Rixon’s direct South Face next time I am in the Valley. I feel a good progression for people would be:

Bear Rock Reg route bolt ladder.  
LeConte bolt ladder.
Dynamo Hum. (formerly Camp 4 Tree)
La Escuela left side.

Maybe add Stigma (formerly Back Seat Crack) and ?? The little Delectable Pinnacle routes? 

to be continued

Eric Craig wrote:

I did some more research, looking at MP ticks.  
Of course there are none for Mud Flats.
None for Bear Rock. Ask AI and it tells you there is no such thing as Bear Rock in Yosemite.
Church Bowl Tree has a lot of ticks. Fairly even split between aid and free attempts, in the first hundred or so ticks.
Dynamo Hum has 4 ticks. Mostly for aid practice.
La Escuela has plenty of ticks. While decades ago it was a somewhat popular free climb, most ticks are for aid climbing practice. It apparently sees very few actual free ascents. It is a better education for today’s budding aid climber than Mudflats, so I (and anyone else) can just forget about that.

I will personally check out Bear Rock and Rixon’s direct South Face next time I am in the Valley. I feel a good progression for people would be:

Bear Rock Reg route bolt ladder.  
LeConte bolt ladder.
Dynamo Hum. (formerly Camp 4 Tree)
La Escuela left side.

Maybe add Stigma (formerly Back Seat Crack) and ??

to be continued

I practice on P1 of the Stigma at Cookie Cliffs regularly. I think it provides thoughtful aid placements with opportunities for a cam hook and beak.

I have never done it. It certainly looks fine. 

I went to go eyeball Mudflats a few years ago, it looks like it's been decades since it's been climbed, all the piton scars are chock full of dirt and moss. Looked like it would require a (patient and thorough) cleaning on aid before it would be in shape for free climbing again.

Seems like kind of a shame to let it "die" due to style advances (and seems likely it might go on clean aid with modern gear). There's a few other routes like that from Sunnyside over towards the falls; freed a few times decades ago, largely forgotten, and now in this limbo of too dirty to free climb, but a step backwards to aid.

In addition to the 1994 Reid guidebook, Mud Flats is also in the 1987 Meyers and Reid guidebook as a free climb.

I recall Jim Herson regularly tried Mud Flats and eventually sent it.  He said it was pretty sandbagged at 5.11d.

> I have done the [Rixon's] west face both before and after that rockfall (70’s, 80’s, &90’s), and while that route collected dust-grit-small rocks on ledges, the climbing was unchanged. 

Not true.  There used to be a chockstone in the start that you had to awkwardly move under.  When I did it in 2006, it was gone.  The climbing was otherwise the same, but looking down at the blasted talus field below made me feel uneasy.  And I am a guy who has climbed a lot on the Apron, which many people consider unsafe due to rockfall.

> Except maybe Beverly’s/Butterballs/Butterfingers? That would be an awesome C1 beginner multipitch, eh? 

It seems like a poor suggestion, as aid climbers would occupy these popular climbs for quite awhile and block free climbers.  There are over 3600 climbs in the Valley, so it's not that hard to find one that will not be blocking popular climbs.

Clint: now that you mention it’ I believe I remember that chockstone. I also don’t remember noticing it missing the last time I was there. I didn’t lead the first pitch in 1975(?), my friend Paul Tomita did, with Jean Claude Droyer and his partner watching while changing their shoes. Legendary French arrogance was on full display. It was a memorable day!!!!

You know, I am really here just trying to help. I have witnessed this year people gumming things up “practicing aid” on the initial pitches of the Nose. Church Bowl Tree is a popular free climb, or the lower 2/3 of the first pitch is. La Escuela used to be, but apparently isn’t anymore. Dynamo Hum isn’t and I don’t think it ever was. Those two seem to mostly see aid practice traffic.  
The Nabisco Wall suggestion was mostly to get a rise out of you. And to voice opposition to making it a via feratta for part of the year. Both are inappropriate.
Maybe you and I should try working together.
I am sorry I suggested Mud Flats.

OK, yeah, I thought the Nabisco Wall suggestion might be a joke!    

Mud Flats might be OK for practice clean aid (and practice removing dirt).  I wouldn't recommend nailing for practice; it's clean aid on most walls these days.

And now that I have claimed that it should be easy to find practice aid routes among the 3600 known routes, maybe I should make such a list.

I do like many of the suggestions already made in this thread, like the first pitches of the Dihedral Wall, La Escuela, or Pacific Ocean Wall.

A few random ideas from the 1994 Reid Free Climbs guidebook that I have not really checked out.  Maybe not good for practice aid.

Moon Age Daydream or B & B at Last Resort.  Very unlikely to see other people there, I think.

Abazaba, Shultz's Ridge East Side.  Shows 2 pitches with bolted anchors, upper pitches with single bolt anchors.  Since freed by Mason Earle.

Rock Bottom, Camp 4 Wall.  Shown as a 150' pitch to a 2 bolt belay, then a 5.8 dirt corner.

The Odyssey, Washington Column.  I did rap down this when replacing bolts.  I doubt it gets climbed much.

Lower Cathedral Rock, North Buttress.  Looks dirty, and only a minimal topo with an arrow pointing up in the guidebook, so it might not have fixed anchors for getting down.

So Clint, what are your thoughts on turning classic Valley short free routes into via ferattas?

Also, every wall route I have done since 1984 has been a clean ascent. That’s close to 20 of them. Yosemite and Zion. 

Clint Cummins wrote:

OK, yeah, I thought the Nabisco Wall suggestion might be a joke!    

Mud Flats might be OK for practice clean aid (and practice removing dirt).  I wouldn't recommend nailing for practice; it's clean aid on most walls these days.

And now that I have claimed that it should be easy to find practice aid routes among the 3600 known routes, maybe I should make such a list.

I do like many of the suggestions already made in this thread, like the first pitches of the Dihedral Wall, La Escuela, or Pacific Ocean Wall.

A few random ideas from the 1994 Reid Free Climbs guidebook that I have not really checked out.  Maybe not good for practice aid.

Moon Age Daydream or B & B at Last Resort.  Very unlikely to see other people there, I think.

Abazaba, Shultz's Ridge East Side.  Shows 2 pitches with bolted anchors, upper pitches with single bolt anchors.  Since freed by Mason Earle.

Rock Bottom, Camp 4 Wall.  Shown as a 150' pitch to a 2 bolt belay, then a 5.8 dirt corner.

The Odyssey, Washington Column.  I did rap down this when replacing bolts.  I doubt it gets climbed much.

Lower Cathedral Rock, North Buttress.  Looks dirty, and only a minimal topo with an arrow pointing up in the guidebook, so it might not have fixed anchors for getting down.

The upper Odyssey, at least, wouldn't be very good for practice aid: not only does it have a pretty wide OW that needs cams bigger than #7 (going by Friend sizes), it has some rotten rock in the higher pitches.  I'd say it was the hardest dangerous climbing I've ever done--10d on kitty litter.  Southern Man is a pretty easy wall, uncrowded, for learning wall techniques, and could be accessed by the lower pitches of Odyssey to avoid the South Face circus.

First few pitches of Free blast?

David Coley wrote:

First few pitches of Free blast?

In the middle of winter, sure, but it would be exceptionally rude to be clogging up those pitches in season.

Ben Zartman wrote:

The upper Odyssey, at least, wouldn't be very good for practice aid: not only does it have a pretty wide OW that needs cams bigger than #7 (going by Friend sizes), it has some rotten rock in the higher pitches.  I'd say it was the hardest dangerous climbing I've ever done--10d on kitty litter.  Southern Man is a pretty easy wall, uncrowded, for learning wall techniques, and could be accessed by the lower pitches of Odyssey to avoid the South Face circus.

Right.

I meant just the first 3 or 4 pitches.  The guy was looking for a climb where he could climb 3-4 pitches, hang his portaledge, and bail the next day.  p2 looked like it could be fun to aid.  p3-p4 go through a big roof and might involve mandatory free climbing, so maybe not so good.